Relationships among climatological vertical moisture structure, column water vapor, and precipitation over the central Amazon in observations and CMIP5 models
Abstract
Abstract Bias and spread in Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 simulated vertical specific humidity ( q ) structure are examined and related to both precipitation and column water vapor (cwv) near Manaus, Brazil, site of the recent Green Ocean Amazon campaign. Simulated seasonal mean q profiles are typically too dry, especially at low levels and during the local dry season, consistent with previously identified surface hydroclimate biases in the Amazon. Multimodel empirical orthogonal function analysis of the models' monthly climatological q profiles indicates two significant modes of ensemble spread in moisture vertical structure, with the leading mode peaked at low levels and the second mode in the lower free troposphere (LFT). While both modes project onto simulated cwv spread, only the first projects on precipitation, suggesting inconsistent sensitivity of simulated rainfall to LFT moisture. Relative to observations, models with high cwv and low‐level moisture errors tend to exhibit high precipitation error.
- Authors:
-
- Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, NJ (United States). Dept. of Environmental Sciences
- Univ. Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City (Mexico). Centro de Ciencias de la Atmósfera
- Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
- Fundação Centro de Análise, Manaus (Brazil). Pesquisa e Inovação Tecnológica Faculdade Fucapi
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, NJ (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1465343
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1402141
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0011069; SC0011074; AGS-1505198; DE‐SC0011069; DE‐SC0011074
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 44; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 0094-8276
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Amazon; vertical moisture structure; precipitation; column water vapor; CMIP5 models
Citation Formats
Lintner, Benjamin R., Adams, David K., Schiro, Kathleen A., Stansfield, Alyssa M., Amorim Rocha, Alciélio A., and Neelin, J. David. Relationships among climatological vertical moisture structure, column water vapor, and precipitation over the central Amazon in observations and CMIP5 models. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1002/2016GL071923.
Lintner, Benjamin R., Adams, David K., Schiro, Kathleen A., Stansfield, Alyssa M., Amorim Rocha, Alciélio A., & Neelin, J. David. Relationships among climatological vertical moisture structure, column water vapor, and precipitation over the central Amazon in observations and CMIP5 models. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071923
Lintner, Benjamin R., Adams, David K., Schiro, Kathleen A., Stansfield, Alyssa M., Amorim Rocha, Alciélio A., and Neelin, J. David. Sat .
"Relationships among climatological vertical moisture structure, column water vapor, and precipitation over the central Amazon in observations and CMIP5 models". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071923. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1465343.
@article{osti_1465343,
title = {Relationships among climatological vertical moisture structure, column water vapor, and precipitation over the central Amazon in observations and CMIP5 models},
author = {Lintner, Benjamin R. and Adams, David K. and Schiro, Kathleen A. and Stansfield, Alyssa M. and Amorim Rocha, Alciélio A. and Neelin, J. David},
abstractNote = {Abstract Bias and spread in Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 simulated vertical specific humidity ( q ) structure are examined and related to both precipitation and column water vapor (cwv) near Manaus, Brazil, site of the recent Green Ocean Amazon campaign. Simulated seasonal mean q profiles are typically too dry, especially at low levels and during the local dry season, consistent with previously identified surface hydroclimate biases in the Amazon. Multimodel empirical orthogonal function analysis of the models' monthly climatological q profiles indicates two significant modes of ensemble spread in moisture vertical structure, with the leading mode peaked at low levels and the second mode in the lower free troposphere (LFT). While both modes project onto simulated cwv spread, only the first projects on precipitation, suggesting inconsistent sensitivity of simulated rainfall to LFT moisture. Relative to observations, models with high cwv and low‐level moisture errors tend to exhibit high precipitation error.},
doi = {10.1002/2016GL071923},
journal = {Geophysical Research Letters},
number = 4,
volume = 44,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Feb 18 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Sat Feb 18 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}
Web of Science
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Works referencing / citing this record:
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